Now we headed the 50 km to the Pan Americana and then south to Huacho.
Last December we had stayed here and knew we could cross Lima and make it to Nazca in 600 km in one long day. We had forgotten the coast view = sand all day.

Getting on the road at 6 am it was just light and so we made it to Lima and through to the other side at 150 km in 3 hours in very heavy traffic. In fact on 3 occasions the entire freeway was stopped for up 10 min. Last time we were in Nazca we had an even longer day and arrived at dark, while today we arrived at 4 pm.

We planned for another mega day today of 588 km on the Pan Americana. It is at least scenic south of Nazca and curves along the seaside and then inland to Arequipa.

Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.53.26 PM

FILE0665

FILE0724

DSC08606

There was an amazing amount of truck traffic. The last 50 km into Arequipa took over an hour and then the entry to the city from the south is totally blocked so you have to detour 10 km to the north entry to access the historic center. We were so mentally and physically burnt by the time we arrived we could not remember the name of our hotel. Luckily the traffic police let us park here and we used a nearby hotels wifi.

This town has a very nice historic center but does not hold a candle to Cusco. We were beat so we just relaxed and did a bit of walking around the Plaza de Armas. There is a nice bridge near by built by Eiffel.

DSC08614

DSC08621

DSC08615

DSC08618

DSC08616

We went to a great restaurant called Zigzag for a fancy night out. You had to wear a bib to project your clothes from the sizzling meat.

Picking up the bikes at the Cochera (parkade) we met a large group of riders from Sweden. We are actually FB friends with one of them Thomas and he has been following our blog. They all know our good friend Orvar (king of Sweden).

colca canyon 1

We decided at the last minute to forgo the apparently very bad road in the back way to Chivay and opted for the paved 180 km.

Its a good thing we did go on the paved route into Chivay, because the good part of the road thru the Colca Canyon was a terrible 60 km of very rough road. So much we had the first real trauma since the Quito failed stator broken/dislocated toe incident. With a combination of the horrible road and Sara not tightening the lid to Dans tool tube, we lost Saras very good long john top that was padding our very nice thermos and of course the lid to the tube. Dan went back to look for it, but with 70 km of terrain and 1 hour till dark it was futile. That said the Canyon itself is beautiful, but I would not suggest you make a special trip here. There are so many other beautiful places in Peru that are easier to get to and you do not have to pay a 30$ per person park fee. This is great if you plan to spend a week here hiking, but not a day or two. Dan did some off roading down the hiking trails for a better view.

We stayed in the same hotel and ate at the same good Chinese restaurant. Since we had a short 137 km to Copacabana and the border to Bolivia we took the opportunity to get the bikes cleaned up from all the mud and changed the oil. This is turning more and more into a pain in the ass on the 650. It is very low and the tops of the bolts of the bash plate keep getting sheared. This makes taking it off a challenge. Also it has bashed "hundreds" of tope or speed bumps and is now mishapen and very hard to get back on. Keep smiling!!!

The first step at the border is to head to the police office. They will check your passport and stamp your tourist card.

DSC04895

Then go to the migration building right next door and get your exit stamp.

DSC04896

The last step is to go across the street to the Aduana (note they are closed from 1230 to 130). Here they want your temporary permit. They will enter your info in a ledger and then into the computer. Then they will stamp your portion of the permit and give it back. Dont loose this if you ever want to go to Peru again, since it is proof that you left the country with the bike.

Then head 8 km down the road to Copacabana, which is a bit of a sketchy town. We got a decent place with a view. We had heard from the back packers at the border that the road to La Paz had been closed for 4 days. In fact they all took the bus back to this border so they could go to the south border to bypass La Paz and head south. We asked the aduana official and he said the road would be normal tomorrow. HMMMMM